Muslim Family Seen Being Bullied on Viral Video Speaks Out, Plans to Press Charges

— -- A Muslim family, who was captured on video being bullied by a passenger on a train from Sydney, Australia, has come forward and said they're working with police to identify the woman who allegedly harassed them, and they plan on pressing charges against the woman if she's found.

Cellphone video uploaded to Facebook Wednesday showed Hafeez Ahmed Bhatti, wife Khalida and their 3-month-year-old son being picked on by a woman in a red shirt sitting across from them. The video was uploaded by passenger Stacey Eden, who can be heard trying to stand up for Bhatti's family.

Though Eden has been widely praised for her defense, Hafeez Bhatti told ABC News today he wants people to know that before Eden began recording, he tried "calmly" educating and "politely" talking to the woman in red, who can be heard associating Bhatti's family with ISIS and accusing Bhatti's kids of "beheading people."

"Before Stacey recorded that video, I tried to educate the woman across from us and say she should not generalize all Muslims based on a minority of terrorists and extremists," Bhatti, 33, said. "And though I appreciate Stacey standing up for us, I want the world to know why we stayed calm. If you try to control yourself and be calm, you can control the situation."

Bhatti, a Bribane resident originally from Pakistan, said he was on a Sydney Airport line train from Sydney, where he was getting his baby's passport done.

"At some point, a lady in a red shirt came into the train in and just put her hand on my wife's head," Bhatti said. "She asked my wife, Khalida, why she was wearing that scarf, saying it was too hot. Then she sat across us and kept going."

The beginning of the cellphone video shows a woman in red asking Khalida, who is wearing a hijab, "Why do you wear it for a man that marries a six-year-old girl?"

Eden can then be heard chiming in.

"She wears it for herself, OK?" Eden says. "She wears it because she wants to be modest with her body, not because of people like you who are going to sit there and disrespect her."

The woman in red continues, telling the Bhatti's wife, "Your kids behead people," but Eden quickly interrupts her.

"That's not her doing it," Eden says. "That's a minority of people."

When the woman in red then starts ranting about "148 Christians murdered in Kenya" and Muslims murdering each other in Syria, Eden asks, “What’s that got to do with this lady?"

At the end, Eden says, "If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything, it's simple."

Bhatti said he and his wife were able to connect with Eden via Skype Friday, and they’ve invited her to come visit his family and local mosque in Brisbane.

He added he's working with the New South Wales Police Force, which is apparently working to obtain surveillance video footage and identify the woman allegedly making the racial comments.

The New South Wales Police Force told ABC News today the department was aware of "an incident which occurred on a train traveling on the Airport, Inner-West and South Line involving alleged racial comments" on Wednesday and that an investigation was now underway. The department added it could not confirm or reveal the names of the victims of the alleged crimes.

Once the woman is identified and found, Bhatti said he will "go through the proper channels" to press charges to make sure “this woman doesn't hurt any other Muslim women and families again.”